 |
I remember an article written by Kushwant Singh titled “Seeing One Self”. This article was the first chapter which was prefatory to a compilation from Kushwants columns edited by Rohini Singh. “He said gods in their wisdom did not grant me the gift of seeing myself as others see me”. I am fitting this comment as I talk of rugby today.
I see events unfolding as the President of the Interim Body Dr Gunasekera is quoted. He has said that a delay in the release of the IRB grant would seriously effect the development of the game at grass root level. He is also on record as saying that he will not go on bended knees to the world controlling body. Probably a statement made in jest to relieve boredom in between his more serious work in surgery.
The situation is as explained by the good doc the IRB recognizes only an elected union of a member nation. So you do not have go far and look for answers. The requirement is to give back those who should be elected to run rugby affairs in Sri Lanka. The amount that is not released and held in suspense amounts to nearly twelve million rupees. Thus I believe the statements are probably made for public consumption. It is not that the learned doc does not understand the naked truth. It appears to be more like a statement of his masters who gave them such powers. The politician: who says one thing for public consumption while he means something else? Doc Gunasekera is much like the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Brown came into the middle to replace Blair mid term. Now with things going bad people feel Brown is not who they appointed and is an unwanted.
 |
| Dr.Maiya Gunasekera |
The present state if not addressed soon I imagine will depress those who love rugby. It will make fans give up the zest they have devloped for the game. History is that a council was replaced with an interim body to get the game moving forward. Some do believe these statements are just for the moment and not uttered with any degree of seriousness. It is not a case of being brave but being like who wants the IMF funds. Swim with the tide?
On the other hand the game has seen violence in the few weeks it has got under way. As I see it there is some element of controversy the union gets into at regular intervals.
Probably this helps to be kept with the spotlight focused as to how bad things are so that you could say the fault lies not with us but with others. News is that the referees are not too happy with one of them getting manhandled. They are not happy about their colleague being assaulted for incidents relating to decisions in a match played a week or two before.
They have considered statements attributed to the CEO and fear it adds fuel to the fire. They are dissatisfied with the way an inquiry was held by a one man team and are questioning the attitude of putting the referee on the dock by the third G. who has come forward to assist the two G’s in the interim body. Confrontation it seems is inevitable unless the divine intervenes with a solution that can be acceptable to allay the fears of the referees.
The story of the week was Navy beating CH and FC. This will boost the morale of the young side who should continue to concentrate on the game. There is talent that needs maturity to settle down against the big guns. With Havelock’s in the doldrums and with no hope held for the Police team it should be up to Army Navy and Air Force to stand up and be recognized. Navy should be congratulated in their performance. It was wicked to hear comments made public to allude that the referees made mistakes which cost the match for CH. The two issues are about advantage and hands in a maul.
The law of advantage is very much discretionary and is not what I want to talk about. The question of missing handling the ball in a maul is not something that I have heard or read of in the laws of the game. Neither did I find any reference in the 2009 book on the laws. I looked at the latest as I thought I was missing something. A maul is where two players one from each side are bound around a ball carrier. How do you get the ball in this situation other than by using hands? Presumably we might be talking about a ruck. Again when a maul goes to ground it does not automatically form a ruck. Of course if you don’t understand the difference between a ruck and maul how can we talk of the laws. Why in your ignorance do you want to take the cake away from Navy? Why do you want to also to put the match official on the dock? Think man think before you talk.
Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB |
E-mail